Predicted price increases, new traveller expectations, and a growing focus on sustainability are requiring organisations to rethink how they manage business travel, communicate policies and control costs.
This is according to Mastercard’s recently released whitepaper Overhauling travel & expense policies: New corporate priorities and traveler expectations on Travel and Expense (T&E) policies which offers crucial insights that can reshape how companies manage business travel.
Over 400 travel decision-makers and business travellers were surveyed to identify changing expectations around business travel.
Key themes covered in the report include sustainable travel, where younger generations are increasingly expect sustainable options, with 61% of companies promoting sustainable travel; and lodging policies, where 53% of companies now include vacation rental websites in their policies as a cost-saving measure.
Other themes include seating class policies, an analysis of cost/benefit for different seating classes (business, economy) with a focus on employee comfort; and integrated tools, tools that integrate booking, payment, and expense management.
This analysis, conducted with the BTN Group, includes perspectives from travel decision-makers at large companies and frequent business travellers, providing a holistic view of the current and future business travel landscape. They offer actionable insights for local companies to enhance their T&E policies, ensuring they stay ahead in a rapidly evolving market.
As business travel evolves, decision-makers can proactively manage policies to control spending, educate travellers, and deploy technologies like AI to audit expenses. Nearly half of the surveyed business travellers agree that business travel is critical for their organisation’s growth, and four in 10 see it as essential for their career advancement. Over 42% believe that their company’s travel policies need enhancement to support increased travel.
The full report can be found here.
